East Midlands Scrutiny Network Meeting 1 July 2016 Attendees Bassetlaw District Council Cllr Madeline Richardson, Vanessa Cookson Blaby District Council Cllr David Jennings, Cllr Les Philimore Charnwood Borough Council/Leicestershire CC Cllr Richard Shepherd East Midlands Councils Kirsty Lowe Erewash Borough Council Angela Taylor, Angelika Kaufhold Gedling Borough Council Helen Lee, Cllr Meredith Lawrence Leicester City Council Jerry Connolly Lincolnshire County Council Nigel West Northamptonshire County Council Cllr Allen Walker, James Edmunds Nottingham City Council Cllr Glynn Jenkins, Rav Kalsi Apologies Blaby District Council Linda McBean Charnwood Borough Council Michael Hopkins Chesterfield Borough Council Cllr Tricia Gilby, Anita Cunningham Corby Borough Council Cllr Judy Caine Daventry District Council Cllr Colin Morgan East Northamptonshire Council Cllr Jake Vowles Leicester City Council Alex Sargeson City of Lincoln Council Cllr Jackie Kirk North East Derbyshire District Council Cllr Tracy Reader, Sarah Cottam Notes Welcome and introductions Cllr Walker welcomed network members and thanked Nottingham City Council for hosting the network meeting. Minutes from the Last meeting The minutes from the last network meeting were agreed. Impact of Gambling on Vulnerable Communities…. A Review Cllr Walker welcomed Jerry Connelly from Leicester City and thanked him for agreeing to present on the recent review of Gambling at Leicester City Council. The presentation covered; Context and structure of Scrutiny at Leicester City Council and how scrutiny functions within Leicester City, including; the use of task and finish groups Details of the Neighbourhood Services and Community Involvement Scrutiny Commission Background to the review, a general review of licensing policy back in August 2015 Main concerns of Councillors was that gambling outlets too close to places of worship and alcohol outlets Scope that was agreed for the review and how this was focused and developed Particular emphasis of the role and support of Heather Wardle (Geofutures) to the review Key local authority players that were identified during the research that have been active in developing policies on Gambling - Westminster, Manchester, Baking and Dagenham, Islington, Waltham Forest (leading on it as a Public Health issue), Medway (partnership Woking with Gambling organisations) Key local players to Leicester City, STAR, Consumer advice associations, Public Health 1 Evidence - plotted licensing premises across the city, overlaid with other pieces of information, including indices of deprivation Evidence of Gambling and impact - what was understood was learnt from the process Fixed Odds betting terminals Community implications - impact vs risk - important considerations, risk factors and who is at risk, what was identified during the review Conclusions - impact, gathering of information Actions and recommendations - risk assessment framework for Leicester Questions and answers Lottery and scratch cards - evidence regarding impact of lottery. ABB - What do they do to promote good behaviour, response? Jerry provided details of information of what is being done. The wider gambling Community was discussed, including; Gaming and Gambling at other premises Online Gambling Gaming patterns and A discussion followed on the involvement of Public Health and how this could work in the future Action - Kirsty to circulate the slide from the presentation with the notes Lincolnshire Devolution Update Nigel provided an update on the devolution agreed in Lincolnshire, details included; Authorities involved in Lincolnshire 10 - 7 district authorities, 2 unitary and the county plus LEP Currently out for consultation, agreement on the questions used in the process Funding that has been agreed Areas that the devolution deal is focused on; Housing and infrastructure, skills and training and criminal justice systems Potential for further devolution Authorities have previously conducted a governance review, each of the 10 authorities Scrutiny Role of scrutiny and the response that scrutiny has given and concerned cited Organisational changes that have taken place within authorities Joint Scrutiny committees in Shadow form to identify how they will work in the future Midlands Engine Chris Henning, Nottingham City Council provided a presentation on Midlands Engine. The presentation covered; Partnership of local government and central government - Midlands Engine as a response to the Northern Power House Statistics of Midlands Engine and the Midlands area Collaborate together and the benefits that this can bring Emerging as a true partnership, including; 75 local authorities 10 LEPs 25 universities 2 62 colleges 460,000 businesses Local authority representatives; Cllr Jon Collins Leader of Nottingham City Council, Cllr Nick Rushton, Leader of Leicestershire County Council, Cllr Anne Weston, Leader of Derbyshire County Council and Cllr Martin Hill, Leader of Lincolnshire County Council, appointed through East Midlands Councils. Further details of the partnership were provided, including; Chair - Sir John Peace Accountable Body - this is soon to move to Nottingham City Council Prospectus; Promotion, Midlands connect, Skills, Access to finance, Innovation Quick wins from Midlands Connect; Midlands Wide investment Hub 4 July, Summit at Nottingham Trent University How do we use the Midlands Engine as a Platform for post-referendum growth? How can this be used as an opportunity. A discussion followed on the role that Scrutiny could play in Midlands Engine Nottingham City Council Leader talking at Scrutiny network Scrutiny to look at specific elements - skills and innovation Gauge views on how scrutiny could contribute to this o Access to finance - how business can access the fund, success rate o Innovation - working alongside Innovate UK? o East Midlands balance A discussion followed on how the East Midlands Scrutiny network could support the scrutiny of Midlands Engine. Kirsty informed the network members that Sir John Peace would be speaking at the East Midlands Councils AGM on 15 July at Nottinghamshire County Council. Action: Presentation slides to be circulated to network members Scrutiny Update from around the region Gedling borough Council Completed previous work programme, which included; Obesity review and Local theatre Not identified future work programme. A lot of scrutiny delivered with the meetings. Nottingham City Council Important role of scrutiny with level of cuts across the authority Children and Young people - new scrutiny subgroup - statutory requirements Teacher supple in Nottingham Digital revolution in Nottingham Apprenticeships Use of open space and recreation Commissioning and contract management Community protection officers and how they work with partners Cost benefit analysis of council input in to election Deprivation in Nottingham Impact of Welfare Reform Fracking in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Effectiveness of consultation process Housing regeneration Cycling in Nottingham 3 Management of Election - will be featured at the next network meeting Charnwood Borough Council Update circulated on email Leicestershire County Council Councillor Shepherd informed network members of the report available here Blaby District Council Finance scrutiny is now income generation scrutiny Section 106 - CIL Northamptonshire County Council Service transformation, efficiency and partnership working Child safeguarding - HMO Effectiveness of Acute Hospitals Section 106 Reactivating, Northampton - Bedford rail link Back office shared service - joint scrutiny Northamptonshire - Organisational change, move to a federated model Bassetlaw District Council Grant aid funding, allocation process Lincolnshire County Council Value for Money - scrutinising support services, Serco Review of Scrutiny, Stuart Young, East Midlands Councils conducted the review. Limited resource for scrutiny and for officers that provide information for scrutiny. Focus on areas that will add value. Impact of Brexit Erewash Borough Council Use of agency staff Waste recycling figures Ilkeston Station, progress Question about finance committee titles, whether the change in title has had the desired affect? A discussion followed on whether it makes a difference. Any other business Cllr Walker invited network member to let Kirsty know if there are items that they would like to see feature on future network meeting agendas. A discussion followed on the possibility of inviting another MP to speak at a future meeting. Additional items discussed included; Future innovations Farmer BioSpace Future Network meetings 30 September 2016, Erewash Borough Council, Long Eaton Town Hall 4 .